294 FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETC. 



greatly to his surprise, he found it a common resident of the fields 

 about His house, where, owing to his unfamiliarity with its notes and 

 habits, its presence had been before unsuspected. 



In the north you will generally find it in old, dry daisy or sorrel 

 fields ; in the south it inhabits the broom sedge. It will not take 

 wing until almost stepped upon ; then, if bushes are near, it takes 

 refuge in or under them, but out in the open field it flies rapidly 

 some distance and drops to the ground. 



Its usual perch, when singing, is a fence rail ; and it does not 

 often seek a more elevated position. Its fine, insectlike notes give 

 it the name of Grasshopper Sparrow. They may be written pit-tuck, 

 zee-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e. Under favorable circumstances they can be heard 

 by an attentive listener at a distance of two hundred and fifty feet, 

 but the casual observer would pass within ten feet of a singing bird 

 and be none the wiser. 



547. Ammodramus henslowii (And.). Henslow's Sparrow. Ad. 

 — Top and sides of the head and the nape dull, pale olive-green^ more buffy 

 in the fall ; side of the crown black ; nape finely streaked with black ; back 

 rufous-brown, the feathers with narrow, central, wedge-shaped black streaks, 

 and narrow ashy margins; bend of the wing pale yellow; wing-coverts much 

 like the back; tail-feathers very narrow and sharply pointed; middle feath- 

 ers rufous-brown; the outer ones much the shortest; under parts white, more 

 or less washed with butty and streaked with black on the breast and sides. 

 Young in first plumage have no spots on the breast. L., 5*00; W., 2-20; T., 

 2-00 ; B., -42. 



Remarks. — The peculiar olivaceous color of the head and nape, and the 

 bright rufous-brown color of the back, wing-coverts, and middle tail-feathers 

 are the best distinguishing marks of this species. 



Range. — Eastern North America; breeds locally from Missouri and Vir- 

 ginia northward to New Hampshire and southern Ontario ; winters from about 

 the southern limit of its breeding range to the Gulf. 



Washington, common S. R., Apl. 12 to Oct. Sing Sing, rare T. V., Oct. 5 

 to Oct. 10. Cambridge, very rare S. E. 



Nest.1 of grasses, sometimes lined with hairs, on the ground. Eggs^ four to 

 five, grayish white, thickly and evenly speckled with pale rufous-brown, 

 •75 X -57. 



During the summer this species seems to prefer wet meadows, but 

 in the winter it inhabits the dry " old fields " grown with broom sedge, 

 which are so common in the south. It has the secretive habits of 

 the Grasshopper and Leconte's Sparrows, and takes wing only when 

 forced to. 



Mr. P. L. Jouy writes of its song : " Besides the characteristic notes 

 of fee-wick, they have quite a song which may be fairly represented by 

 the syllables sis-r-r-?'tf-srit-srif, with the accent on the first and last 



